


nothing good ever lasts.

by NoxWrites



Category: Runaways (Comics), Runaways (TV)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, F/F, and my usual bullshit, angst angst angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 18:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12823911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoxWrites/pseuds/NoxWrites
Summary: Two years ago, Karolina Dean left the only neighborhood she's ever known, moving to the outskirts of Los Angeles and away from the girl she loves.Tonight, Karolina Dean is throwing a party and least likely guests appear from her past.ornicolina exes au





	nothing good ever lasts.

**Author's Note:**

> aye! my first fic for this fandom and hopefully not my last. I apologize in advance for angst.

Everything was loud and bright and rampant, people were moving sensually or erratically. The entire house was lit in colorful lights and full of bodies. She had changed from a flannel and undershirt to a tank top, and from a pair of jeans to shorts. She could still feel the sweat on the back of her neck building from the amount of body heat in the house. 

 

She weaved her way through the masses, going from group to group to interact with people she’s never known and didn’t want to know. Some were nice enough to let her go after a quick introduction, some lacked proper etiquette and talked with her for what felt like hours before letting her go. She puts a smile on the entire time, a familiar phrase rings in her head and the smile falls. 

 

She makes her way into the crowd, joining a group of girls dancing to Versace on The Floor as they all get too close for friends. One girl’s hands go to her hips and she nearly falls at the contact, the touch of skin on skin shocking her out of her party daze. 

 

It’s when she sees people going upstairs that she nearly loses it, she ushered them down and back to the main floor. Asking a friend to watch the stairs she goes to the garage to find an old baby gate to mark the stairs off limit. She’s finally alone, or as alone as she can be in a party filled with teenagers. 

 

When she thinks her prayers have been answered a hand runs over her shoulders and she turns to see a girl with jet black hair and black eyeliner smiling at her. She looks back to the punch bowl in front of her, pretending she didn’t see the woman.

 

“You look stressed.” the girl has to lean into Karolina’s personal space to talk loud enough. 

 

Karolina nearly barks out a laugh, she manages to keep it quiet enough and nods to the stranger. “You could say that.” 

 

The woman hums before turning and leaning her back against the kitchen island. “It’s a party, this is a time to release stress.” 

 

Suddenly Karolina feels the ghost of fingers running up and down her forearm, “Um. Yeah. I don’t usually do parties.” She tries to control her breathing.

 

“I can see that. Maybe you would like some help, you know, de-stressing?” the woman is looking through her eyelashes with a devilish smile.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?” Karolina turns her body towards the woman.

 

“Sierra. And you are?” 

 

She was going to answer, truly she was, but then a group of five walk through the door and Karolina’s heart falls from her chest and into her stomach.

 

“I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.”

 

She doesn’t go turn to see the expression of pure confusion on Sierra’s face, she just keeps walking towards the door. The five have barely moved but they already have a crowd near them. She pushes through two lacrosse players before she’s between the five party crashers and her guests. 

 

“Who invited the nerd wagon?” One of the lacrosse players shouts, earning a laugh from all around him. 

 

“Who invited the brainless douche?” Chase Stein, ever the gentleman, shouts back and the lacrosse players step forward, stopping when Karolina puts a hand up.

 

“I invited them.” Karolina says to the lacrosse players who brush her off and walk back into the crowd. 

 

She turns back to the group, watching as one figure slinks away from the group and into the party. When she looks to the other four she sighs.

 

“Why is Molly here?” It’s the first logical question that pops into her brain, it was right after the illogical questions of  _ Why the fuck are you here, Why did you bring  _ her, and  _ Why the fuck are you here. _

 

“I was just gonna set her in your game room.” Gertrude speak from beside Chase, Karolina doesn’t miss how their hands suddenly unlink from each other. She just nods her head, motioning for them to get inside so she can close the door fully. 

 

The group disperses, leaving Karolina alone by the front door and rubbing at her temples. Two years. Two years and different colleges, why did they have to show up now. She tries to push it to the back of her mind, instead she focuses on a stranger still leaning by the punchbowl. She walks back to Sierra, a hand goes for her shoulder but when Sierra turns around Karolina wishes she got farther away from Los Angeles than just bordering the town. 

 

Nico Minoru, in all her glory, stands by the punchbowl instead of a stranger. She’s looking back at Karolina and they both stare with emotional eyes but no words are shared between the two.

“I’m going to be sick.” Nico’s voice is quiet as ever but Karolina could always hear her.

 

Nico pushes past Karolina and hustles through the crowd. “Nico! Nico, wait!” 

 

She’s stopped by the grip of Chase Stein on her wrist. “What did you do?” 

 

“Nothing.” She shakes him off her, walking back to follow Nico but by then she’s lost the girl to the crowd. 

 

She huffs off, rushes to the stairs but before she can get there she’s stopped by a familiar but not wanted face.

 

“Hey you rushed off, you alright?” Sierra questions Karolina in front of the staircase. 

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just need something from upstairs.” Karolina gestures, making it two steps before Sierra calls on her again.

 

“Want me to come?” Sierra stands at the base of the stairs. 

 

“No!” Karolina winces at her own volume, waving her hand in front of her face to wipe her last word away. “I mean, no thank you. Sierra you seem really nice and maybe on a different night this would’ve gone somewhere but something came up. I’m sorry.” 

 

She hops over the baby gate, rushing up the stairs and past Molly who sits in the game room, watching some tv show Karolina doesn’t recognize. She makes it to the end of the upstairs hallway, slamming her bedroom door closed before she rests her forehead against the wood of the door and exhales. 

 

“Shit.” 

 

The sniffle of a familiar voice pulls Karolina away from the door and turns her around, scaring the crap out of her. She sees Nico, withholding tears, seated on her bed with her legs crossed. 

 

“Nico-”

 

“I should go.” 

 

Karolina rushes to Nico’s side before she has a chance to rise from the bed. “Please don’t, don’t go.” 

 

Nico looks at her and stands up, “Karolina I shouldn’t even be here. I need to go.” 

 

Karolina lets it out, all the tears of the past two years. The tears of watching Nico out of her car window as she drives away from the one neighborhood she’s known her whole life. The tears of giving Nico her necklace back, a necklace made for Karolina. The tears of having to say goodbye to the girl she’s liked since middle school. 

 

It’s then that Nico’s tears fall as well and they’re both sobbing but too hurt to comfort one another because the scars of the past are too fresh. Karolina tries to wipe away her tears but it just serves to start a fresh flood. 

 

“I can’t sleep at night.” Nico murmurs in between sobs.

 

“Wh- What?” Karolina looks up at her, sniffling back her sobs.

 

“I used to sleep at night with thoughts of what we would do the next day, the next week, the next month; but now there’s nothing.” Nico tucks her arms in, hugging herself.

 

“Nico-”

 

Nico puts a hand up before tucking it back between her folded arms. “I lost Amy. God, I thought nothing could be worse than this, than losing the one person who knew you. Then, I found another person, I found you, I thought it was too good to be true. To have two people who understand you and then I lost you and fuck it was too good to be true. Nothing good ever lasts.”

 

She turns and walks away, leaving Karolina to follow her and stop her before she goes downstairs. Nico looks back at her with tear stained cheeks and falling makeup. Closing the door to the game room, Karolina pulls Nico back farther from the stair case.

 

“Karolina please.”

 

“Just let me explain. Give me sixty seconds.”

 

It’s moments of silence and staring at each other until Nico says, “59. 58.”

 

Karolina tugs at her Gibborim bracelet. It unclips and then the hallway ignites in colors. Her body lights up, reflecting white light energy and turning it to colors. Nico studies her, looking at the walls around her that have dancing rainbows along them, then to Karolina whose emitting the rainbows and whose body has celestial stars woven into her skin.

 

“Beautiful.” It’s so quiet, it’s a shout in the endless void that Nico whispers just under her breath.

 

Karolina snaps her bracelet back on, the light show dies with the click of the band and she’s back to her average state. “I had to choose. And I was scared, I didn’t know what I could do or how to control it. My parents made me choose either you or learning how to control my powers. Nico, I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

 

Nico’s look of awe faded as soon as Karolina put the bracelet back on, her stoic face looks up to Karolina. Her voice has no tone, it’s flat as she speaks, “Time’s up.”

 

Then Nico Minoru is walking back down Karolina’s stairs, away from her, from them. Karolina walks down after her, not chasing, just watching. Watching as Nico asks Alex something, pointing to Karolina and then to the door. When Alex looks up at her, Karolina feels like she got hit with Chase’s fistogons. He nods his head and starts to usher Nico out of the house. Karolina doesn’t mean to, her body just does, it makes her follow after Nico and Alex. All the way until she’s outside, watching Nico get into Alex’s Prius. 

 

“Nico, If I ever hurt you I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I was more scared of hurting you than losing you.” Karolina shouts from the grass as Nico stops for a second only to look back at Karolina with a face of pain.

 

“And now you’ve done both.” Nico gets into the Prius’ passenger seat. 

 

“Nico, I love you.” Karolina forces it out, the words she didn’t even have a chance to say when they were together. 

 

“I love you too.” 

 

That’s the last thing Nico Minoru says to Karolina Dean before she’s being taken home by Alex Wilder. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> as always you can find me on tumblr, im currently @krlinadean as of 11/25/17


End file.
